


Come and Find Me Now

by eleret



Category: Football RPF, Manchester City RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-15
Updated: 2012-02-15
Packaged: 2017-10-31 10:19:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/342923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eleret/pseuds/eleret
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adam and David aren’t boyfriends...or are they?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Come and Find Me Now

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for the [valentinesplay](valentinesplay.livejournal.com) challenge for [the_wild_son](the_wild_son.livejournal.com). Title taken from the Josh Ritter song "Come and Find Me."

“David! Hey there, David!”

David turns, to see Joe Hart behind him in the quickly emptying locker room. Everyone’s eager to get home, after the practice they’ve had. But Joe looks surprisingly serious, for once.

“Hey, can we talk for a minute?” he asks.

“Sure,” David says, a little nervous, glancing out at the parking lot where Adam is waiting by his car. He wonders if Adam will remember to wait for him – he had given him a ride to practice this morning, and said they would go out after. Joe is nice, lots of fun, but he doesn’t know him as well as Adam. “What’s up, mate?” he asks, trying out a new expression. It makes Joe smile – the intended effect.

“I just wanted to talk to you about Adam for a second,” he says, pulling Silva back into the empty locker room. David nods, leaning back against the lockers. _About Adam?_ He thinks, perplexed. _What about Adam?_

“Listen, I know you and Adam are close, David. And I think it’s great. Adam really likes you. I just – I wanted to make sure you understand. When Adam is serious, he’s really serious. I just don’t want to see him get hurt, do you get me?”

David blinks at him. He had thought his English was improving, that he was settling in okay. Over the past season he’s made friends, and he’s started to settle into life in Manchester, different as it was. But every once in a while, he misses something completely. This is definitely one of those times.

“Um…” he stalls, “I – am not sure I get you.” Joe is tilting his head at him, giving him this serious look, like he thinks David must know what he’s talking about, but also like he’s a little nervous. David wishes he could say the right thing, the answer Joe is looking for, but, it just doesn’t make any sense, because – “I would never hurt Adam, I don’t understand.”

Joe smiles easily. “Well, of course, David, I know you would never hurt Adam on purpose! I just wanted to make sure you understood that he was serious – you know, about you.”

Joe had said that before – _When Adam is serious, he’s really serious_ – what did that mean? Perhaps something other than what he thought. “Adam is serious about me?” he prompts Joe. “As a friend…?”

Joe shakes his head, frowning in confusion. “Well, yes, I suppose so. But David, I meant, he’s serious about you. You know, as his, well, boyfriend. Or whatever you want to call it.”

 _Well,_ David thinks, _clearly I have missed something important._

 

***

 

When he first arrived in England, this sort of thing used to happen to him all the time. Or well, not this sort of thing _exactly_ , but he used to have a lot of misunderstandings.

At the beginning, it was tough. England wasn’t bad, exactly, but adjusting was every bit as hard as everyone said it was. The weather, of course, was a problem, although not as much as everyone said. After playing for Celta Vigo, he was familiar enough with rain, and they did have snow in Spain, despite what everyone in the UK seemed to think.

The food, actually, was worse than the weather, in Silva’s opinion. There was no paella, no _café con leche_ (“coffee with milk” was not the same, no matter what the dictionary said), breakfasts were too heavy and dinners too early. But of course, it wasn’t all bad. Fishandchips quickly became one of his favorite phrases.

“It reminds me a little of, um, _bacalao_ ,” he explained to Adam the first time he had it. At Adam’s frown, he shrugged. “Like this – fish – but better. Um… more spiced? Not spicy picante, but with spices.” Adam didn’t understand Spanish, but David had managed to inject a few words into his vocabulary.

Adam smiled. “More flavorful,” he corrected gently.

“Ah, yes. More _flavorful_ ,” he repeated, trying the word out.

The real problem, of course, was the language – well, the language and the people. He picked up English bit by bit, trying his best to speak it, when he could, and relying on Pablo or Yaya or Carlos to translate his mangled _Spanglish_ when he couldn’t.

Pronunciation, of course, was a problem. He remembered the second day he hung out with Adam, after practice, they just said each others’ names for half an hour, back and forth, both trying to pronounce the other’s correctly.

“Not _DAH-vid. Dah-VEED,_ ” David said, exaggerating the second syllable.

“Dah-veeeeed,” Adam responded, laughing. “God, I’ll never remember to say it that way, though. It’s so weird! Anyway, your turn now. It’s not _Ah-DAM_ okay? It’s _Aah-dam_.” And on they went.

But even when his pronunciation and vocabulary improved, there were phrases that just wouldn’t translate, and he often found that while he understood the words, he had no idea what the person _meant_.

When he explained this to Adam – “I understand what you say. But I don’t know what you mean,” – Adam nodded.

“It’s not just the words, the vocabulary, right? It’s how people say it,” He agreed. “Like, for instance, when my mum says ‘Adam, wouldn’t it be lovely if you could come for tea with your grandparents on Sunday,’ what she means is I better be there, or else.”

David laughed, having understood the basic idea, “Yes, like that.”

“But you know,” Adam said, looking at him a little more seriously now, “I think even when I don’t understand what you say, I know what you _mean_. You know?”

And somehow, David did.

David had felt comfortable with Adam since he first met him. He had barely understood his accent, much less any of the words he used, but Adam’s easy smile and the arm he casually slung around David’s shoulders put him instantly at ease.

As Silva’s English improved and as they both got more playing time, they grew closer, seemingly drawn together. Silva spent most evenings hanging out with Adam, whether at one of their homes or out in Manchester, and they often spent days off together. They had become close, and it was one of the main reasons David had been able to adjust to life in England, he knew.

 

***

 

But all the same, he knows they are not _boyfriends_ , not by any definition he had learned. He starts to tell Joe this, opening his mouth to say, _I’m sorry, you must be mistaken, it’s not like that with me and Adam_. But then – he pauses.

They aren’t boyfriends. They have never held hands, much less kissed. But that didn’t mean he hadn’t wanted to. Thinking back, he recalls how Adam’s hand feels on his shoulder, how Adam’s shoulders feel under his hands when they embrace after a goal. How Adam’s smiles always made him feel good, and Adam always smelled nice, even after a game when really no one smells nice at all. And after all, they do hang out a lot – more than David does with anyone else, more than he ever had with Villa, and probably more than Adam hangs out with Micah or Joe or James.

He looks back up at Joe. “Joe?” he says, tentatively, “Did Adam tell you we were – boyfriends?”  
Joe smiles, “No, of course not, Adam’s private that way. I could just tell – from looking at the two of you, it’s pretty obvious.” He winks, “But don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. I just had to make sure you understood – even though he’s a joker, he can be serious too. Well, every once in a while, anyway.”

“Ah, okay.” David nods, and takes the hand Joe holds out to him. “Well, you don’t have to worry about me. I’m serious too, okay?” He looks out at the parking lot, and sees Adam sitting on the hood of his car, staring down at his phone. He can’t help smiling at Adam’s hair, spiking up and messy from his shower. As he looks, Adam glances up from his phone and waves at him. David raises his arm in return, holding up his index finger to say “one second.”

“Well,” Joe says from behind him, clapping him on the back and making him jump a bit. “I’m glad that’s settled, then. I’m really happy for you two crazy kids, okay?” and with that he laughs and pushes David toward the door. “Now, go meet him, man, before he expires waiting for you!”  
Adam looks up as he jogs up, and gets into the driver’s side, starting up the car as David throws his bag in the back next to Adam’s. He gets into the passenger seat, feeling oddly tense all of a sudden, as Adam pulls out into traffic.

He looks over at Adam, taking in his pale skin and his sharp eyebrows, which are furrowed as he moves through the Manchester traffic. His eyes are intense, focused on the road, but they can be so warm and kind when he smiles or laughs. His shoulders are broad, and even though he’s thin, David knows he’s strong. David knows he’s attracted to Adam, if he’s honest with himself, he’s known it for a while. The question is, can he tell Adam?

“So,” Adam says as he pulls up to David’s house, interrupting David’s thoughts, “Do you have any plans? I think I’ll meet up with Micah and some others later, if you want to come?” He looks over at David expectantly as they get out of the car.

“Yes,” David says, smiling. He takes Adam’s hand. “Actually, I do have plans. And so do you. In fact, I think you had better text Micah and tell him you won’t make it tonight.”

“Er, what?” Adam frowns. “Did we agree to do something? I didn’t forget, did I?”

“No,” David says as he practically drags Adam up his steps, fumbling at unlocking his door, and finally pulling Adam inside with him. “But, I’ve only just realized we’ve dating for months, and I have some time to make up for, okay?”

Dropping his bag heavily on the floor, he takes Adam by his upper arms and twists them around, pushing him up against the door. There’s this moment, as he tilts his head up, toward Adam’s, when their eyes meet. Adam’s are as warm and comforting as he has ever seen them. But also, they’re excited, lit up with happy surprise.

David leans up, and kisses Adam firmly, grabbing his chin to bring it down with one hand. Their mouths meet awkwardly, at first. Adam is just a bit too tall, and his nose is larger than David had expected, this close. But then Adam makes this – happy sound, this small, pleased moan, and he grasps David around the waist and shoulders, and curls down to him. And then it is perfect.  
It seems like they kiss forever. They kiss until they’re both panting a bit, and even then, it’s hard to step back. David blinks at Adam, takes in his happy smile and his flushed face.

Adam laughs. “Oh, is that all,” He says. “Well, we’d better get to work then, I guess.” And he takes David’s hand, following him down the hall to his bedroom.


End file.
